Nearly Perfect Plan, The

 Author's Summary

A lighthearted fiction crime thriller, The Nearly Perfect Plan is the first in a trilogy chronicling the adventures of Roger Booth and Carl James, two young ambitious confidence men.

Fate works overtime when Roger and Carl stumble upon the perfect way to hijack three Brinks armored trucks in broad daylight on the open highway and make them and their $34 million payloads disappear in a matter of minutes.  They enlist the aid of twenty of their ex-Army buddies from the Kuwaiti war to pull off "The Perfect Plan".

Everything goes as designed, until the gang is celebrating their victories over the law enforcement agencies of two states and the FBI.  Then, the fickle finger of fate steps in and they are captured.

As a result, their spoiled venture soon becomes known as The Nearly Perfect Plan.  But sometimes, (as you will see), if you are clever and resourceful, nearly is close enough.

Filled with suspense, thrills and a little romance, The Nearly Perfect Plan will tickle your funnybone and make you ask for more adventures with Roger and Carl.

MWSA Review

Karl Boyd shares quite a story in The Nearly Perfect Plan and readers get a crime drama that keeps them guessing to the very end. And the good news is that there are two more adventures being written for a trilogy of thrillers. All three books revolve around the characters of Roger Booth and Carl James, two young and ambitious "con" men.  
 
This is not a "Who dunnit?" story because the reader gets to see both sides of the crime scene, from inside and then from the side of the police and FBI. It is more of a "Holy cow (or in this case a bull), how did they manage to pull this one off?" type of drama. Roger and Carl are able to enlist the help of twenty of their ex-Army buddies to pull off a "perfect plan" that seems to be just that, until the very end of the book. The story revolves around setting up the Crossed X Ranch and using it as a legitimate business to cover up all of the goings-on to pull off a few Brinks' heists. 
 
This book is a perfect match for readers who enjoy getting into the characters' minds and are always trying to figure out the mystery of it all. Karl Boyd does a great job of creating a masterful crime plan and he keeps the authorities at bay, as are the readers. In the end, "good" wins out over "evil," or does it?  
 
In an interview of Mr. Boyd that I read on his website (www.karlboyd.com) I discovered that he gets a lot of his inspiration for his writing from his dreams.  Being an elementary teacher who wakes up from dreams with great lesson plans rolling in my mind, I can truly understand that. What I am thankful about is that Mr. Boyd WRITES about his dream inspirations and doesn't act them out! The other inspiration that I personally received from him is that he only began to seriously write at the age of sixty-five. I am thoroughly looking forward to reading his other novels.

Reviewed by: Joyce Gilmour (2009)